Dr. Cho Won Il and Kim Mun Sek Are KIST’s “Persons of the Month” (2018.10.26)

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2018-10-26

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Dr. Cho Won Il and Kim Mun Sek Are KIST’s “Persons of the Month”

On October 24, Dr. Cho Won Il and Kim Mun Sek from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)’s Center for Energy Storage Research received the KIST Person of the Month Award in recognition of their outstanding research.

In cooperation with a Cornell University research team led by Prof. Lynden Archer, Dr. Cho and Kim’s team developed a next-generation lithium metal ion battery whose energy density is more than double that of lithium ion batteries currently used in smart phones and laptops. The new battery demonstrates high commercialization potential by its ability to maintain greater than 80% peak efficiency after being fully charged and depleted over 1,200 times.

The low energy density limits conventional lithium ion batteries in operating UAVs (ex. drones) over long periods. Researchers tried to solve this by replacing the batteries’ graphite cathodes with lithium metal ones, but this tended to form dendrites that reduced battery life and could potentially cause spontaneous explosions. To prevent dendrites, the KIST researchers developed artificial barriers called Langmuir-Blodgett artificial solid-electrolyte interphases and provided the scientific community with information on the mechanism and optimal mixing ratio. KIST’s technological breakthroughs were later published in Nature Energy.

KIST’s Person of the Month Award recognizes and rewards overachievers who contribute to the institute in creative, innovative ways. Winners are selected by the Reward Deliberation Committee.